James Corbett – It goes by many names: The shadow government. The deep state. The secret team. Whatever it is called, the idea is simple: there is an unelected, unaccountable, largely unknown group behind the facade of the visible government that wields power and works toward long-term agenda goals no matter which political party or puppet politician holds office.

Long the domain of the dreaded “conspiracy theorist” community, the idea has surfaced here and there over the years. The JFK assassination has given rise to many inside accounts and outside exposés of The Secret Team. The Iran-Contra scandal led to a Bill Moyers documentary on The Secret Government that is still worth watching 19 years later. It was even openly acknowledged that a “shadow government” had kicked into operation on 9/11.

But an odd phenomenon has taken place in recent years and intensified in recent months: the idea of a deep state or a “shadow government” controlling politics, even in the US, is becoming mainstream.

It has graced the cover of any number of recent books, including “Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry” (link) and “The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government.” (link)

It has found its way into the online political media from both the left (Salon) and the right (The American Conservative) ends of the controlled political spectrum.

It has been invoked by mainstream financial analysts to describe the actions of the Federal Reserve.

It has been revisited by Bill Moyers on his website.

It has found its way into the headlines of The Boston Globe (“Vote all you want. The secret government won’t change“) and the New York Times (“America’s ‘Establishment’ Has Embraced ‘Deep States’“).

Heck, it has even been talked about on the World Bank’s blog.

This onslaught of attention begs the question: why now? Why are so many mainstream outlets suddenly shining a light on something that has barely been acknowledged in the past? Continue reading →